Episode 42 - Hardcore Guitar

Americanhardmind and Synchronicity introduce Hardcore Guitar as part of our Hardcore series, reviewing our list of the hardest, fastest and heaviest guitarists, and concluding with our pick for #1.

Rules for Selection, or the Ah-Synchronous Scale
(“A hardcore musician with precedent harmony as the peak of the period.”)

The first number represents the intuitive order, the second number represents the logical ordination:
1/1. Must be a musician, i.e. can play live at any moment during the height of #5.
6/2. Must present as hardcore, i.e. contain elements of hard/fast/distorted.
5/3. Must be musical precedent, i.e. created the sound or did it first.
2/4. Must/can harmonize and excel as individuals and with a band; other later bands impact #5.
4/5. Must have a cultural impact for as long as possible, but are best represented at peak.
3/6. There are no generational parameters, as musicians may be from the same period.

The three criteria for Hardcore inclusion are:
1. Instrument - the skill, technical and creative ability
2. Mood-Image - the feel, emotion and appearance
3. Lyric - the thrill, message and meaning of the sound

Metal (djent/thrash/industrial)
Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) "War Pigs" 3:30-4:20; 6:33-7:18 (6:48-7:18)
Kirk Hammett (Metallica) "Fade To Black" 5:00-6:49 (6:05-6:35)
Michael Amott (Carcass/Arch Enemy) "Transmigration Macabre" 2:00-2:58 (2:17-2:58)
Stephen Carpenter (Deftones) "Knife Prty" 2:50-4:10 (0:00-0:35)

Punk (syncopy/speed/political)
Kristofer Steen (Refused) "The Shape of Punk to Come" 2:15-3:25 (2:45-3:15)
Joey Shithead Keithley (D.O.A.) "Fucked Up Ronnie" (0:30-1:00)
Daron Malakian (SOAD) "Soil" 1:55-3:10 (2:15-2:50)

Hard (heavy/rock/alternative)
Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen) "Eruption" 0:55-1:25
Donald Roeser (BOC) "Astronomy" 1:48-2:25/3:53-4:39/4:53-6:10 (4:15-4:45)
Larry LaLonde (Primus) "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" 1:40-2:18/(2:59-3:40)

Rock (blues/psychedelic/pop)
Jimi Hendrix (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" (1:52-2:30)/3:37-5:13
John Frusciante (RHCP) "Ramparts" (0:43-1:13)
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) "Achilles Last Stand" 2:50-5:15 (4:30-5:00)

Experimental (progressive/proto-post/folk-instrumental)
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (ATDI/The Mars Volta) "Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore: C. Pisacis (Phra-Men-Ma)" (5:30-6:00)
Eddie Hazel (Parliament-Funkadelic) "Maggot Brain" 2:44-6:00 (4:25-4:55)
Efrim Menuck (gy!be) "Mladic" 9:00-11:00 (10:35-11:05)

Correction: We're sincerely sorry for using "Arnott" instead of Amott for Michael Amott's name (including his brother Chris). Same goes for any other butchering of names (like Buck Dharma's). Apologies to the true metalheads!

This is what to expect in Episode 43:
Art of Xaos